Breast Milk, Oil, Water, and Money

Why would the U.S. come out against a resolution in favor of feeding infants breast milk? As with any commodity necessary for life, follow the money.

Humans need so much to live, at least in modern first world industrial culture. Arguably, three of the most basic are breast milk, oil, and water, and all of them had a moment in the news spotlight last week – backed, of course, by a fourth: money. Money always seems to follow close behind when we’re dealing with the necessities of life, doesn’t it?

According to a story the New York Times reported early last week, there was quite a scandal at the UN World Health Assembly this spring when the United States employed strong-arm tactics to block what should have been a common sense, non-binding resolution to promote breast milk for infants. One might not suspect that the most traditional way for mammals like us to provide food and vital immune support for our youngest children would be so controversial, but apparently even breast milk is a threat to good, old-fashioned American industry when spilled into the mouths of babies instead of more profitable, store-bought formula.

Vice President Mike Pence, pictured here, started working for Kiel Bros. Oil Company when he was only 14 years old. Photo by Gage Skidmore, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0

While the Pence family seems to have been happy enough to pocket the money they made while running Kiel Bros., neither the former executive nor the business are interested in paying much of the bill for cleaning up more than 85 of their polluted former gas station sites. Instead, they’re letting taxpayers in three states pick up the most of the tab for the mess, including leaky underground tanks that contaminated soil and groundwater with toxic chemicals, and a Superfund site. One wouldn’t think that the Trump EPA cares much about pollution anymore, but apparently the toxic plume is endangering the aquifer that provides drinking water to the Pences’ home town of Columbus, Indiana, so there’s no expense too big for other people to pay to keep the Veep’s family safe from the consequences of their (in)actions.

About Dawn Allen

Dawn Allen is a freelance writer and editor who is passionate about sustainability, political economy, gardening, traditional craftwork, and simple living. She and her husband are currently renovating a rural homestead in southeastern Michigan.

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